Chthon (Earth-616)
Real Name: Chthon Nicknames: Demon of the Darkhold, the Great Shadow Former Aliases: No known former aliases Other Current Aliases: Chthn (alternative spelling), the Other Status Occupation: Elder God (technically degenerated into demonic status) Legal Status: Not Applicable Identity: The general population of Earth is unaware of his existence Marital Status: Not Applicable Group Affiliation: Elder Gods Base of Operations: Other-Realm (his personal dimension); formerly Wundagore Mountain; mobile Origin One of the Elder Gods. Place of Birth: Earth Known Relatives: the Demiurge (father and mother); Gaea (sister); Set (brother); Demogorge, aka Atum (half-brother and nephew) First Appearance: (the Other) Marvel Chillers#1; (as Chthon) Avengers Vol.1 #186 History Chthon is one of the first gods to materialize on the biosphere of Earth, soon after humanitiy or, upon others, soon after life. He was created by the Demiurge, the supernatural avatar of life, alongside with his "brothers" and "sisters" such as Set and Gaea. Particularly, Chthon and Gaea were among the gods inhabiting the land, as opposed to the seas and heavens, and Chthon might have been involved in geolocial patterns. He is also involved in knowledge and became the first mystic of Earth. Gaea eventually gave birth to the first of the new gods, Atum, god of the Sun and son of the Demiurge. Chthon, being a scholar, understood that the new gods would eventually replace their kin. Gaea had created Atum as a weapon to use against some other gods such as Set, who had became evil demons. Fearing for himself, Chthon wrote the mystic knowledge he had accumulated in a scroll that would be known as the Darkhold, his touchstone on Earth. As Chthon had predicted, Atum became a god hunter known as the Demogorge. Considering Chthon to be a demon, Demogorge tracked him, but Chthon managed to escape to a different dimension. He could not return to Earth by himself but, if an intelligent being could learn to use the Darkhold, he would have an indestructible means to manipulate his Earthling pawns, and a talisman that would became his dimensional gateway to Earth. The Darkhold was first discovered by human sorcerers from Atlantis, who took it from the place before its sinking. These sorcerers formed a cult, the Darkholders. They also used the spells in the Darkhold to create the first vampires. For one thousand years, the Darkhold was used by Babylonian intellectuals, Egyptian priests and Hebrew scholars, but whomever use the Darkhold, would loose his soul in the proccess. This was of little use for Chthon, still trapped in his dimension. In the sixth century AD, the Darkhold reached Britain, where sorceress Morgan Le Fey made it bind by the first time so it could become a book (eventually nicknamed "The Book of the Sins"). Le Fey wanted to invoke Chthon to Earth and then control him using the power of the Darkholders. However, Chthon was too powerful to be controlled that easily. Le Fey and the Darkholders had to fight for their lives and use almost all of their power to repeal Chthon from Earth. They had to travel to Wundagore Mountain, in Transia, to lock in the monster there. A monk and renegade Darkholder named Magus stole the Darkhold, placed it in a tower and sent a complex spell so that nobody with evil intentions could enter the tower - which led to him being punished by Le Fey. The spell was useless because of good-intentioned apprentice sorcerer Modred (not to be confused with Mordred), who entered the tower as a good man, touched the Darkhold and was eventually corrupted by Chthon, thus leaving the tower as an evil man. Modred would become an agent of Chthon years later. He did not took the book from the tower, but fell in suspended animation instead. Irish monk St. Brendan, believing that the Darkhold would be too tempting for evil-doers, took the book from the tower and unbind it. He discovered that each page was indestructible, so he did scatter the pages through Europe. In the twelfth century, a Spanish monk named Aelfric used occult arts to re-join most of the pages of the Darkhold, although it is unclear if he joined the pages or not. He would become a powerful sorcerer. The Darkhold would change hands many times, mostly ending in possession of people who was not skilled enough to use its magic. Transylvanian scholar Baron Gregor Russoff joined again the Darkhold pages as a book and used it in his "occult experiments", using some of the blank pages as a diary. The mere possession of the book made him become a werewolf, a curse that his children and grandchildren would share. Ironically, Russoff had taken the book to a place near Wundagore. Chthon was there, trapped, and waiting for a chance to escape. Magus had died years before, but he had became a ghost who could possess other people to communicate with mortals. Magus possessed scientist Jonathan Drew and joined forces with Drew's friend, genetist Dr. Herbert Edgar Wyndham. The two resourceful beings stopped Chthon in his second greatest try to reach the Earth plane. Two young mutants were born in Wundagore soon after that, being one of them the Scarlet Witch, and Chthon used his power to made her bond to him. Baron Russoff died soon after that, and American Miles Blackgar bought his estate, which had the Darkhold in it. However, the Darkhold itself was legal property of Russoff's son, occult scholar Jacob, who had to steal it from Blackgar and gave it to Father Jóquez. The book came to the hands of Dracula, who was looking for a means to restore his powers. After this, Morgan Le Fey's ghost renewed her interest in the Darkhold. Magus looked for a living champion to protect the Darkhold and found it in the first Spider-Woman. Spider-Woman fought Le Fey, who even came to use Chthon's appearance to try and defeat Spider-Woman. In the process, the ghost of Magus fell in love with Spider-Woman. Modred then awake from his suspended animation, and Chthon ordered him to search for the Darkhold and free Chthon on Earth. As a part of an elaborate plan, Chthon possessed the now-adult Scarlet Witch, but the Witch's allies, the Avengers, expelled Chthon and buried him again at Wundagore. Dracula discovered that the Darkhold included the Montesi Formula, a spell that could destroy all the vampires on Earth. Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, managed to use the Darkhold to destroy all of the vampires, without losing his own soul in the process. The Darkhold is currently in Strange's library. Chthon is still in his dimension, patiently waiting for his next attempt to return to Earth. Characteristics Height: Varies Weight: Varies Eyes: Red Hair: None Skin: Purple skin Unusual Features: No unusual features Powers Known Powers: Chthon is a virtual God in his own dimension, having access to powers beyond comprehension. However, while he is trapped on Earth, he can only use certain powers including: * Mind Control * Posession. Notice that people possessed or controlled by Chthon will also get the following powers: ** Levitation ** Mind Blast ** Plasma Generation ** Telekinesis ** Teleportation Known Abilities: Chthon is an expert in occult lore, being responsible not for the discovery but for the creation of a great amount of the currently-used lore. He is also a writer and a strategist. Strength Level: Chthon has superhuman strenght at a god-like level. Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes * 'chthon' comes from the Greek word for dark earth. Trivia * Recommended Readings * Related Articles * Darkhold * Morgan Le Fey * Magus * Aelfric * Modred External Links * References * Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe ---- Category:Red Eyes Category:No Hair Category:Purple Skin Category:Living Characters Category:Bad Characters Category:Silver Age Category:Deities Category:Demons